May 2010
The Sintesa Peninsula is currently the top-end hotel in Manado City. It sits on a small hill near the center of town, not far from the waterfront and several shopping centers. Opened just in time for the 2009 World Oceans Conference, the almost new hotel features crisp, clean lines everywhere, from the oversized public spaces to the 147 guest rooms. For my stay, I had a corner suite with views of the harbor - or at least I could have seen the waterfront if it hadn't been pouring down rain for most of my stay.
Photos of my room at Sintesa Peninsula Hotel. Click on any of the thumbnails to see the full size image.
Living Room
Bedroom
Bathroom
The suite featured a large sitting area with dinette table, sofa, big screen television and desk. While everything was comfortably built, the arrangement was a little awkward. In particular, getting to the desk chair required you to edge past the curtains to sit hemmed into the corner. Of course, you could roll the chair around to the other side of the glass-top desk, but then you'd be sitting with your back to the television and the rest of the room.
However, the most awkward aspect of the room was the Internet cable. The room came with free wired Internet access, but the cable port was over next to the television. Fortunately, they did provide a long cable, which you had to pull across the room to the coffee table to have a place to work on your laptop. Of course, this is where a hotel design pet peeve of mine comes into play. Both the coffee table and the work desk were glass-topped. It's very nice and clean, but if you want to use an external mouse with your laptop computer, you have to hunt down a piece of paper to put under the mouse, since modern optical mice don't work well on glass.
Minor quibbles with the furniture layout aside, the rest of the room was very nice and comfortable. A wall with no doors separated the seating area from the bedroom, where a king-size bed faced another big-screen television. A sort of walk-through closet lead into the huge bathroom, which had a large tub, two sinks ("his" & "hers") and a shower stall. It was a very roomy bathroom - possibly bigger than a few hotel rooms I've stayed in - which came in handy for drying out my dive gear some more.
Breakfast was served in typical buffet style in the coffee shop facing the swimming pool. There was a good selection of Asian and western items, although nothings really stands out.
Hotel Facilities include several restaurants, swimming pool and fitness center.
Rooms feature air conditioning, mini-bar, color television with most major international channels. wired Internet and hair dryer.
Pluses: Very comfortable rooms with all the amenities. Walking distance to major shopping mall and market area. Good views from most rooms.
Minuses: None, really. Issue with the room layout described above are minor annoyances, at most.
The Sintesa Peninsula Hotel may be booked through Safari Tours.
Disclaimer: I received a complementary stay at the Sintesa Peninsula in exchange for this review.